Macron Accuses Washington of 'Neocolonial Aggression', Says U.S. Is Destroying World Order

French President Emmanuel Macron accused the United States of drifting away from allies and international norms, warning that a form of "neocolonial aggressiveness" is increasingly shaping relations between major powers.

Speaking during his annual address to French ambassadors at the Élysée Palace on Thursday, Macron said Washington was "gradually distancing itself from some allies" and "liberating itself from international rules," according to accounts of the speech reported by French media. He argued that the international system was entering a phase in which law is being replaced by power.

"We are living in a world of great powers with a real temptation to divide the world," Macron said, adding that multilateral institutions were "functioning less and less effectively." He warned that the world was evolving toward "the law of the strongest," with international law increasingly sidelined.

Macron's remarks came days after sharp exchanges with President Donald Trump and against the backdrop of recent U.S. actions abroad, including the military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, as well as repeated statements by Washington about a possible annexation of Greenland. Macron described the moment as "very difficult," saying that "the law of the strongest is trying to impose itself."

While criticizing U.S. behavior, Macron emphasized that France and Europe should not respond by withdrawing from the global stage. "We reject new colonialism and new imperialism," he said, "but we also reject vassalage and defeatism." He reiterated his long-standing call for greater European strategic autonomy, arguing for "less dependence on the United States and China."

The French president urged what he called an "urgent reinvestment" in the United Nations, dismissing any alternative that would marginalize the organization as "absurd." He also pushed back against U.S. pressure on European technology regulation, calling for the protection and strengthening of EU digital rules such as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, which he said were under attack by American interests.